To begin with, my last name as my birth certificate reads is 'DOWD'. My cousin Bob, who I have known all my life, spells his last name 'DOUD'. When I would ask my father about the different spelling, I was told that when my father went into the Navy during WWII, that the spelling was changed and that he never corrected it. My grandmother, who had remarried, would never talk about her first husband, my father's father. So, we had a big mystery on our hands. I often wondered about him, but did not get any answers to my questions, because my grandfather died when my father was 6 years old.
Many years later, I got home from work one day, and I had a message on my answering machine from a woman who wanted to talk to my daughter about babysitting. My daughter had just had her thrid child, so, she was unable to do any babysitting. But, I told her that I was very interested in her last name. She then put her husband on the telephone. He told me that he was the son of a Doud of Ellington, NY, and that the Rev. Doud was his uncle. I became very excited, especially when he told me that a reunion was being planned for Labor Day weekend. They also told me that my great-aunt Frances, who was 82 years old and almost blind, was going to be at the reunion, and that she wanted to meet me. Needless to say, I felt like an adopted child who had just found her family. The emotions that hit me were unreal!!
Labor day weekend came and I was filled with apprehension and excitement. This family was the most wonderful group of people. They welcomed me with open arms, and enfolded me with their love. Much to my surprise, several of them had been working on the Doud genealogy, but none had actively been researching on the internet. I had purchased FamilyTreeMaker, and had been looking for information on the internet. I had also been to the city clerk's office, and had gotten copies of my grandparent's marriage certificate, and my grandfather's death certificate (which gave me the date of his death). I had also gone to the library, and found the newspaper write-up of my grandfather's death and funeral. This I took, along with family pictures to the reunion. They also brought and shared their pictures with me. To receive a picture of my grandfather as a child was one of the greatest gifts.
The youngest brother arrived. He was very skeptical of my claim to be a relative, due to the spelling of my last name. I had taken an old tin photo of my dad and his brother as children to the reunion. Everyone agreed that the photo of my dad looked like one brother's 3 year old grandson. And, that my father's graduation picture looked just like their father's picture as a young man. The youngest brother was still skeptical. This youngest brother happened to work for the same company that I also worked for. Several days later, I got some inter-office mail from him that included information that he had that belonged to his grandmother (my great-grandmother). On the very top of the packet of information was a photocopy of the very same tin photograph that I had taken to the reunion. He apologized for his skepticism. Here was the proof that I needed for total acceptance.
One of the greatest finds was my great aunt, who had been married to my grandfather's brother. She is a very wonderful 84 year old "young woman", who had also been doing genealogy. She has been very wonderful to me, supplying me with names, dates, and in some cases pictures of my long lost relatives.
My journey to find my heritage has been an adventure like none other that I have ever taken. I have been led down some very interesting paths, and have met many new 'cousins' and some very wonderful people. This journey was truly a labor of love and tears. Let me begin...
Several years later, I took my youngest daughter to a Methodist summer camp at Findley Lake, NY. After registering and getting her settled in, a reception was held in the dining hall. While there, a minister stopped by our table to talk to me. We exchanged names, and to my surprise, his last name was Doud. After further discussion, it was determined that his father was a brother to my grandfather. He promised to send me what information he had collected. True to his word, he did send me the information and also told me that his father had agreed to meet with me and supply any additional information. But, due to circumstances surrounding my grandfather's death, there were many hard feelings, so he did not know much. Unfortunatley, I never got to meet his father, my great-uncle. Many years passed before I acted on the information that Rev. Doud had supplied. My four children were young, and I was working at the time, so my leisure time was almost non-existant. My cousin Bob was constantly after me to get started, but time, or rather the lack of it, was the problem.
